The Billionaire's Voice (The Sinclairs #4) by J. S. Scott Read Free Book Online

he watched the indecision and a flash of fear in her expression. He was so damn tempted to just haul her back to the truck and forget about the damn skating.
    Her words weren’t meant for him; she was trying to reassure herself .
    That she needed to pep-talk herself onto the ice was reason enough for Micah to call off the whole damn thing. Tessa didn’t need to prove herself to anyone.
    She stepped onto the ice quickly, so fast that he didn’t even have time to talk to her, see if she wanted to just leave. He was guessing she felt that she needed to either make a move or run back to the truck. His heart swelled as he watched her face her fear head-on.
    She started slowly, a little unsure during her first rotation around the square arena. He watched her pick up speed with more than a little apprehension, switching directions as she moved.
    Forward.
    Backward.
    Forward.
    Backward.
    He lost track of time as he stood beside the rink, his grip on the wooden, waist-high wall so strong that the blood was leaving his fingers.
    “Christ!” he rasped as he watched Tessa leap into the air in graceful splits. He gulped in a breath, not releasing the air in his lungs until she’d landed safely.
    His eyes never left her mesmerizing movements as all thoughts of skating to her rescue left his brain. She didn’t need him . She’d once been the world’s best figure skater, and she was quickly regaining her confidence. Her skills hadn’t gone anywhere. They’d just lain dormant until this very moment, and he felt pretty damn lucky just to be an observer.
    She moved as if she was going through one of her routines, substituting easier moves for some of the more complicated jumps that had likely been part of her program. Micah caught a glimpse of her face as she sped by him, her skin glowing, her expression euphoric and expressive.
    Tessa was born to perform, but the opportunity had been taken away from her too damn soon. She’d told him that she’d been training to do the next Olympics as the defending gold medalist when she’d lost her hearing. Unfortunately, she’d never had that chance to defend her title.
    Flowing back into the center of the ice, Tessa literally became a blur of movement as she started to spin faster and faster before finally coming to an abrupt stop, her beautiful body holding a graceful pose for one breathtaking moment before she lowered her arms.
    “I did it. I can do it.” She was panting as she spoke.
    Micah could hear her words from the sideline, and he wondered at the amazement in her voice. Had she been convinced that she couldn’t skate? A person didn’t lose those kinds of skills. Tessa—Theresa Sullivan—had been ice-skating since she could walk, and the training during her adolescence and young adulthood had been intense.
    He applauded as Tessa bowed elegantly, but he stopped as she dropped to her knees, her hands over her face.
    She’s crying.
    He jumped onto the ice and breached the distance between them in an instant, dropping down in front of her, completely oblivious to the freezing cold of the ice beneath his knees. “Tessa. What the hell happened?” he asked urgently even though she couldn’t hear him, trying to move her hands from her face.
    Loud, heart-wrenching sobs filled the air, and Micah felt his heart hammering in alarm. “Are you hurt?”
    “No,” she wailed, her shoulders rising and falling as she continued to release her emotions. “I did it, Micah. I skated,” she answered tearfully, finally removing her hands from her face, resting them on her thighs. “I heard the music in my head. I still remember it.”
    “Of course you did, sweetheart. You were amazing,” Micah told her soothingly, fucking relieved that she wasn’t injured.
    He was taken aback as she threw herself into his arms with wild abandon and continued to cry.
    Recovering quickly, he wrapped his arms around her, sheltering her while years of uncertainty and fear were sobbed out on his shoulder.
    Micah